External Antennas for Tungsten C Handhelds? 33
Scummer asks: "I am tinkering with the idea of replacing my old Palm Vx with a Tungsten C from Palm since I really like the WiFi capabilities of this new handheld. However, I have read in some reviews, that the range of the T|C is not that great since it doesn't include an external antenna. Has anyone tinkered with his T|C, and can tell if it is possible to place a connector for an external antenna somewhere in there? Is the internal antenna soldered or is it actually plugged, which would provide a better signal quality? I mean, browsing Slashdot and reading email on a T|C from the playground (which is about 1 mile away from my house [with a 15dbi external omni on the roof]), while my kids are having fun falling off the playground equipment, would be awesome." Solutions should try to be a little more novel than Pringles' cans and floppy disks but I don't think the submittor will complain if it works.
Tungsten T not relevant (Score:1)
Re:Tungsten T not relevant (Score:2)
ringles can? Hah! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:ringles can? Hah! (Score:1)
Check out the FCC pictures (Score:2)
https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.e
Where's the antenna?
Re:Check out the FCC pictures (Score:1)
Re:Check out the FCC pictures (Score:1)
Try a directional antenna? (Score:1)
See what kind of range that gets you. If you're lucky, maybe that could be sufficient.
The perfect solution for you is to... (Score:3, Insightful)
Just in case you don't know about this, you might want to try the AvantGo service [avantgo.com] to get the content you crave. You get 2MB a day for free and for $20/year you can get 8MB a day. I haven't tried it yet, so I can't firmly vouch for it, but I've been hoping to use it once I have a PDA (which should, hopefully, be soon).
Another solution, if you must have the remote mobile capability, is to just get a PDA+cell phone combo. There are a lot of choices (a lot of Palm ones especially) in that category now, and if you have an Internet option in your phone's service plan, you could access the net from anywhere, not just within the range of your antenna.
Re:The perfect solution for you is to... (Score:1)
Seriously, if you're never going to be spending more than an hour away from a PC then just cache enough content on your device to keep you happy for that long. Avantgo has a pretty good selection of its own channels, as well as allowing you to cache sites of your choosing. If something really piques y
Re:The perfect solution for you is to... (Score:1)
Re:The perfect solution for you is to... (Score:2)
Because we can.
I have solution... (Score:5, Insightful)
Range is alright (Score:2)
O.T. I'm a hardcore grafiti user and I didn't care for the new grafiti that comes with it. I'd rather have an option for the old input interface. There are some things about it that work better... even than the T
Re:Range is alright (Score:2)
-- iCEBaLM
Re:Range is alright (Score:2)
Solutions and Their Drawbacks (Score:3, Informative)
1. Keep the isotropic antenna that's already in the device, and increase gain at the base station.
2. Void your warranty, open it up, and rig an external non-isotropic antenna (as suggested).
3. Use some kind of passive elements and/or reflectors to create gain.
For #1 above, the obvious solution is to point a directional antenna at the park. But if you want to have a signal at other places in the vicinity of your home, you'll either need to add more gain to your omni base antenna (15dB is a lot of gain already!), or adjust the beam tilt so the sweet spot hits the park. The drawback to either method is that you don't get something for nothing. Increased gain in one direction means negative gain (blind spots) in other directions.
For #2, the drawbacks are that you lose your warranty, and will have to keep the external antenna very still. You need to find a way to mount the external antenna in a fixed position, pointing at the base station. For example, you could use a clamp to fix it to a park bench, and rig something up to adjust it. I bought a $10 fan with a clamp and adjustments at Walgreen's that would do nicely.
Choice #3 is the most difficult to set up. You'll probably have to experiment a lot before you get results. Directional antennae use reflectors and directors in addition to the driven element to produce gain. You already have the driven element somewhere in the Palm. Depending on where it is, you can attach your own reflectors and/or directors to the outside of the Palm, and not void the warranty. It's more alchemy than science, but it can be done. I once taped a "T" antenna that comes with most FM radios to the ceiling, and then taped a few directors in the appropriate locations so that I could pull in a low-power college station. It wasn't pretty, but it worked! You're still going to have to contend with the problem of signal fading every time you move the palm, but it's worth a try.
Reflectors are used to get around obstructions. If you have a building between your base antenna and the park, you could put up a sheet of metal that essentially acts like a mirror to the radio signal. This probably isn't practical in your situation, but it's worth mentioning just in case. Moving the base antenna around could possibly align some existing metal structure to reflect in the right direction.
If you're not familiar with the various types of antennae, and the formulas used to construct them, I suggest going to your local library and checking out the latest ARRL Handbook.
Tungsten W? (Score:1)
Re:Tungsten W? (Score:2)
Oh, you mean as in "Does this thing work *anywhere*?" GSM/GPRS basically only works
in major metro areas of a few countries,
unfortunately. Maybe in 5 years I will find
it useful.
Pringles can plus tinfoil helmet (Score:3, Funny)
Of course then you won't be able to watch your kids at the playground because the minute you turn up you'll be ejected by angry parents wanting to protect their kids from the weirdo wearing the cyberman hat.
Oh, the books your kids will write about you... (Score:2, Funny)
I mean, how about you get off your fat american ass and fall off that equipment with your kids. Jesus Christ, if I wasn't getting paid for this rant...
Re:Oh, the books your kids will write about you... (Score:1)
Re:Oh, the books your kids will write about you... (Score:3, Funny)
Not to be Mean (Score:1)
That said, you should try some of the palm forums. There are a lot of Palm Geeks who have probably explored this, and would love a chance to show off.
Gryftir
Not What 802.11b is for (Score:2)
Re:Not What 802.11b is for (Score:2)
Re:Not What 802.11b is for (Score:1)
Solution? (Score:1)
In the car. (Score:2)
In a reply you said you'd like todo some war driving with it. This being the case you might consider opting for something other than a Palm since you're not going to find any decent war driving softw
Re:In the car. (Score:1)
Longwire - room for crimp connector (Score:2)
The board pops off with a nice zero-force style connector (is that the right name?) but it's actually irrelevant. You don't need to touch it.
The antenna itself is simply a wire which goes up the right back side (when looking at the back of the unit), and across the width of the top of the unit. It's held in place with a couple of plastic clips at various poi